Excitatory amino acids: modes of action on hippocampal pyramidal cells

Recent pharmacological and biochemical evidence supports the idea that acidic amino acids act as neurotransmitters at several excitatory synapses in the hippocampus. In this paper I review work comparing certain physiological actions of N-methyl-DL-aspartate (NMA) and L-glutamate in a hippocampal slice preparation. Intracellular recordings were made from pyramidal neurons bathed in 1 microM tetrodotoxin; agonists were applied by focal ionophoresis. NMA evoked calcium spikes and produced an apparent increase in the input resistance of pyramidal cells, whereas glutamate was very weak in these respects. The depolarization and conductance change caused by NMA were voltage dependent: both could be abolished by hyperpolarizing the cell to -70 to -90 mV, but no reversal potential could be demonstrated. The results of pharmacological and ionic manipulations suggest that the primary action of NMA does not involve reduction of a conventional potassium conductance. It is suggested that N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation increases a voltage-sensitive calcium conductance leading to a transient rise in cytoplasmic calcium concentration. The significance of this event is discussed with respect to the possible synaptic functions of chemically gated, voltage-sensitive calcium channels, and in particular with respect to the possible roles that NMDA receptors might serve in the genesis of long-term potentiation of excitatory synapses in the hippocampus.